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sepik river and tour Papua New Guinea

Has anyone spent any travel time in Papua New Guinea? We are going to Australia and Fiji in Sept. 2005 and are looking for some new places to go in that area.The trip is too far to go for a short time so we plan several things while in Australia area.(from Canada)Goway Travel has several tour ideas forPNG.We love outdoors,wildlife,birds and water activities.

Hi johnfaye,
My husband and I did the most wonderful little cruise out of Madang in PNG to the Trobian Islands a few years ago. It was about 5-6 nights in great comfort on a luxury cat.
The same company also does a Sepik cruise (or did) which I heard was fabulous. On the Trobian one there were about 16 people most of whom had travelled across the world to experience the amazing country of Papua New Guinea. We were living at the time in Port Moresby.
All of us were in utter awe of the beauty of these islands, their lack of commercialisation , the basic naturalness. The Americans, Canadians and Europeans on board could not believe what they were seeing. The islanders only had first contact with people from other lands as late as the 1930's and the people who ran the cruise made the whole trip a wonderful cultural experience.
Try and get to PNG. It is unique in the world and although travel arrangements can be a challenge you will not regret the effort. Scenically a magnificent country.
From Port Moresby you can fly to Cairns to start your Australian trip.
Happy travels.

Yhanks Piri for the PNG info.I don't know anyone who has been there.Are there lots of animals and birds and reptiles there to see? We love nature and want to see as many different species as we can and try to plan trips that include these.We are Canadians who travel often.New Guinea sounds like a fasinating place.

john - PNG has lots of exotic wildlife -tree kangeroos, cassowaries, the world's largest selection of birds of paradise, plenty of exotic butterflies and some of the world's deadliest snakes, as well as plenty of the large saline crocodiles. There are many coral reefs if you enjoy diving. Also, at sing-sings and other ceremonies,the men have traditional costumes, body paint, etc to rival the birds of paradise.
It is not a cheap country to get to, neither is it cheap once you are there. But if you want somewhere exotic and "one off" you can't go far wrong.